For the Throne
by SidheAshe
Summary: Azula has fallen out of her father's graces after loosing to Zuko and Aang too many times. Now, Azula realizes she need to do something in order to ensure that she will rule the fire nation, even if that means she has to marry her brother. INCEST!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender, and I do not make any money from these writings.**

**Author Note:**I know incest is bad, but Zuko and Azula incest... ok still bad, but entertaining. Don't flame me for the incest... please..., but I do encourage reviews. This isn't going to be one of those quick fuck one-shots of Azula and Zuko. I intend for this story to continue for multiple chapters, so development will be slow. There will eventually be a lemon, but not immediately. Probably not even half-way through. Lots of sexual tension though. ^_^

"It's all his fault!" Azula screamed in frustration, lightning crackling around her. "My darling big brother just had to get in the way again," She ranted. "Father is losing faith in me," She told Mai and Ty Lee. "And what's worse is he's gaining trust in that idiot!" The lightning around Azula exploded, sending Mai and Ty Lee crashing to the ground several feet away.

"Yeah, take it out on us." Mai scathingly muttered as she got back on her feet.

"Yeah, what did we do?" Ty Lee pouted.

"Oh, shut up." Azula scowled. "I can't loose to him. There's too much at risk."

"I never understood why you didn't just make a deal with Zuko." Ty Lee said, straightening her rumpled clothing. "He always seemed reasonable to me and it would cut down on all this." Ty Lee gestured at the poor condition of the houses in the deserted village.

"And what kind of deal could I make with him?" Azula snapped.

"Why don't the two of you just share the throne?" Ty Lee questioned. "I mean, you get along pretty well when you both want the same thing."

"Share the throne?" Azula and Mai asked at the same time.

"Are you stupid?" Mai asked. "The only way they could share the throne is if Fire Lord Ozai married them. Very unlikely considering they're siblings."

"Share the throne." Azula said quietly. "Ty Lee, sometimes I love you." Azula said before turning and walking off. "Hurry up, we need to get back home."

"Home? Why are we going home?" Ty Lee asked.

"Just hurry up." Mai said following the princess.

Azula kneeled before her father, head bowed. 'Once, I wouldn't have had to kneel.' She thought bitterly.

"Well, Azula, I must say you're plan is interesting, if nothing else" For a moment, Azula doubted her father would accept her plan, it was far-fetched after all.

"How do you plan to convince him to agree with this?" Ozai asked.

"I need only tell him that if he agrees he can come home. Zuko is a prince, by now he must be sick of living like a mere peasant."

"True," Ozai considered. "But he also has an annoying sense of right and wrong. One that his mother ingrained in him. How do you plan to convince him that this is not morally wrong to marry you?"

"Leave that to me, father." Azula replied.

"Very well." The Fire Lord granted. "I'll agree to your plan. However, Azula, make this quick. I don't want you to waste excess time on your brother that you could be using to find the Avatar."

Azula rose to her feet and said, "Very well. Goodbye father." She then turned and left wearing a triumphant grin.

~One Week Later~

"So, where are we going?" Ty Lee whined, as she scrubbed down her sweaty rhino.

"You've had us going at this pace for a week and I don't know how much longer the rhino's can take it."

"We can go slower tomorrow, we made good time today." Azula said from the camp fire.

"You avoided my question!" Ty Lee angrily stated.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Azula said through gritted teeth. 'Actually, I'll tell her if I manage to pull it off. It's bad enough I had to ask my father,' She thought. 'If Zuko says no, the humiliation will...No, I won't think like that, he will say yes. Still, can I go through with it? It's one thing to say it, but could I do it?' She conjured up a picture of her brother as she had last seen him. She had been pleasantly surprised to find he had cut his his hair even and was letting it grow longer. The pony tail had been a bad look for him and she suspected the only reason he had kept it like that was to hold onto some form of normalcy. To remind himself of the way he was before he had been burned.

To be honest, Azula pitied her brother. When she was a child, she had been happy to see him leave, after all that meant that she was the heir to the throne, but as she grew older, a sadness set in at the memory of his loss. Not that she would ever tell him that of coarse. When she saw him again for the first time in years, she had wanted nothing more than to put the past behind them, but something inside of her refused to be seen as weak in his eyes. So, just like when they were children, she resorted to scathing comments and violence to grab his attention.

'He looks good now. Like when we were younger.' She thought, sadly. 'Yes, I think I would. Now, I just have to convince him.'

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**Author Note: Well? Good? Bad? Neh? Let me know. I have decided that unless I recieve some feedback I will not update this story. This is mainly because most of my work ends up with quite a few hits, but no reviews... that is annoying. I like to know if my work needs improvement anywhere or if certain parts are good. So if I recieve somewhere between five or ten reviews I will update. Constructive criticism is appreciated.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Avatar the Last Airbender, and I do not make any money from these writings.**

**Author Note: I know that the first chapter was a little short (I apologize), but I was getting a feel for the story. I just wanted to get the first chapter out there and see what results I got from it. This chapter is longer. I promise! **

_Last time: 'He looks good now. Like when we were younger.' She thought, sadly. 'Yes, I think I would. Now, I just have to convince him.'_

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~One Week Later With Zuko

Zuko sighed as yet another customer walked in the tea house. 'If I have to wait on one more peasant I'm going to be sick. I can't believe I'm reduced to this. I'm a prince and I'm waiting on these dirty... things.' Zuko thought bitterly, while he watched a drunken old man follow an extremely younger woman inside.

A lip curled up in disgust as he watched the old man throw his arm around the girl and slur, "Ah want da bes table ya got in tha place." The girl gave a drunken, high pitched giggle and wrapped her arms around the man.

'These people are driving me insane.' Zuko tried to calm himself and said through gritted teeth "Right this way." He turned and led them to a table in the corner. 'Hopefully they'll cause less of a commotion here.' Just when Zuko was turning around to face the vulgar people behind him he felt something roughly slide over his butt. Rage flowed over Zuko. 'Did that little wench grope me?' Zuko thought angrily.

"I have had enough of this!" Zuko screamed spinning around to face the suddenly quiet patrons.

"Zuko?" Iroh asked coming out from the kitchen.

"Uncle, I'm sorry, but I can't take this anymore." Zuko said, storming out of the tea house.

The cold air nipped at Zuko as he walked down the street. 'Probably should have grabbed something warmer to wear before I left.' A few minutes later, Zuko was turning down an alley, shivering. 'I should go back.' He thought, sadly. 'No, I made an ass out of myself. I can't go back, at least not right now.'

A bang suddenly sounded from the entrance to the alley and Zuko spun around. An orange cat looked up from a smashed crate. The cat looked at Zuko and yowled before scampering off into the shadows. Suddenly unnerved, Zuko turned back toward the exit of the alley, when pain exploded from the back of his head. He stumbled forward and collapsed to the ground. Lights danced before his eyes as he struggled to remain conscious. Fearing for his life, he tried unsuccessfully to pull himself to his feet. Voices whispered behind him before everything went black and he collapsed back to the ground.

~With Azula two hours before~

"So, let me get this straight. You drug us to Ba Sing Se at full speed all the way from the palace, just to kidnap Zuko?" Ty Lee asked skeptically. "Are you sick?" She placed her hand on the fire princess' brow and waited a moment before saying, "You do feel warm."

Azula's brow twitched in agitation. "I'm warm because I'm getting angry." She growled.

"Oh," Ty Lee said eyes widening. "Sorry." Ty Lee removed her and and asked, "So why are we taking him?"

"I need to have a little chat with my dear brother." Azula said cryptically.

"So, you think he's here?" Mai asked.

"Yes, some of father's spies have been watching him." Azula replied, leaning on the famous stone wall of Ba Sing Se. "Uncle, now, owns a tea house."

"I always knew you're uncle was a simpleton." Mai cut in.

"Everyone knew my uncle was a simpleton." Azula replied, unamused at the attack on her uncle from someone who wasn't her family.

"How are we going to get into the city." Ty Lee asked, trying to deflect the negative emotions flying between the two girls. "Ba Sing Se's defenses are impenetrable."

"That's why I told you to bring the kimonos. The guards wouldn't keep 'defenseless' women in danger by refusing to allow them through the walls at night. When they ask why three rich women were traveling alone and with no money, we'll just tell them we were robbed and our attackers killed our guards a few miles back. They might go back to find the bodies, but they'll wait until morning to do so and by then we'll be long gone." Azula said, thankful for the change of subject. The failure her uncle had become wore at her pride. Royals simply did not behave like Iroh currently was. A tea house? Had the man gone mad with the loss of his son and wife? It was a disgrace and, along with Zuko's banishment, it would serve as a joke for the soldiers to laugh at, once the gossip got around. Another blemish on the stoic face of the royal family.

"Well, girls, let's changed." Azula said, smirking.

~Later Inside Ba Sing Se~

As soon as the three girls got into the city, they immediately split up to find the tea house. They agreed to meet up in half an hour at the town square. Azula was the one to eventually find it. Flirting with guards could get you far. They always seemed to know all the latest gossip. The tea house was on the richer side of town, the kind of place only nobles could afford to buy from.

'With how much tea Uncle drinks, it's no surprise he's good at making it.' Azula mused. An hour was spent spying on the tea house, waiting to see if Zuko would emerge from the place or if they would have to go in and get him. There was one thing that Azula was certain of: Zuko would not talk to her unless he was highly sedated or just unable to move.

'Even then it's a long shot,' She thought. 'I'll just have to make him listen. It should be fun, it was when we were kids.' Azula quashed a smirk at the memory of some of the stupid things she talked her brother into doing. 'He really was gullible.'

"Azula can't we just go in and get him?" Ty Lee whined annoyingly. "These kimonos itch, it's cold, and my knees are cramped from staying like this for so long." The girls were situated behind the gate of a closed jewelry shop across the street from the tea house. The fairly impressive gate consisted of iron bars spaced a fist length apart. It was about shoulder height and a row of bushes were planted at the front. By kneeling down, the bushes concealed the girls from on lookers and gave them the perfect vantage point to watch the only entrance to the tea house.

Even if this was a tea house was a brilliant hiding spot, that did not for one second mean that Iroh would forget that there was a bounty on their heads from two nations and Azula would be willing to bet that there was at least one hidden exit in the building. If they revealed themselves too soon then Iroh and Zuko would make a break for it. It was worth waiting a few hours to capture Zuko if it meant that they could do it with little interference from Iroh.

'Iroh really is brilliant, in a demented sort of way.' Azula thought, with some admiration for her uncle. 'Not many fugitives would be so smart or so brave as to hide in plain sight.'

"Oh, stop complaining." Mai growled. "You've been whining for the last forty minutes and it's pissing me off."

"Well, excuse me!" Ty Lee said acting offended. "I can't feel my legs."

"You really won't be able to feel them when I..." Mai started venomously, only to be interrupted when Azula shushed them, pointing across the street. Zuko had stormed out of the tea house and was striding briskly down the street.

"Well, Well," Mai snickered. "Doesn't he look happy."

"You can't possibly say you're shocked." Ty Lee said watching the retreating prince. "He's always been a little emotional."

Azula bit her tongue to keep from laughing. 'What would Zuko do if he heard that?' She thought bringing up an image of a shocked and blushing Zuko. 'He looks good like that.'

"We need to catch up with him, but stay out of sight until he gets away from the crowds. My brother likes to sulk by himself, so he's probably heading for the alleys and back streets." Azula said, rising from her kneeling position. She had to admit that Ty Lee was right in her complaint. Azula's legs trembled to support the sudden weight as she stood and her arms were numb from the cold. When she was planning, she didn't take into consideration the fact that it was winter in Ba Sing Se. In the Fire Nation, it was always hot, even in the winter. Light kimonos were needed just to keep from passing out due to the heat, so that was pretty much the only type of kimono owned by most women in the Fire Nation. She was lucky that all three girls even owned a green or brown kimono. Most influential women chose colors to match the government they supported. It was like walking propaganda. It screamed, "I'm influential follow my lead and throw your support in for this nation". Naturally, most of her kimonos were red or gold.

"Let's go." Azula said following the quick, angry strides of her brother with her eyes. 'He must really be angry.' Azula thought sadly. 'He's holding back a lot of aggression. He should know better. It's not safe for a fire bender to hold back that much.' Countless tales were told of fire benders who held their anger and frustration back so long they ended up setting fire to everything around them, even the people they loved. Since fire benders had a tendency to have violent tempers and constantly changing moods, meditation was taught to all fire nation citizens at a young age to prevent damage. An hour of silence a day was worth it to keep random fires from springing up all over the place.

The girls followed him for about five minutes before he turned into an alley way.

"Wait here." Azula said before entering the alley. The alley narrow, but dark and shadows sprung from the stacked crates on both sides of the alley that camouflaged her small body easily. Seeing a pipe sticking out of one of the crates, Azula picked it up preparing for what was to come.

She was a few feet from Zuko, when a crash sounded from the end of the alley she had just come from. Quickly, she ducked behind some of the crates on her right. She held her breath, hoping that Zuko had not seen her before she was hidden.

'What are those idiots doing?' Azula thought, enraged at them for giving up her position. 'If he finds me I'll burn them alive.'

After a moment of hesitation, the sound of Zuko walking reached her ears. She gave a silent prayer of thanks before she used her agility to rush out and deliver a good swing to the back of his head. 'Not the best way of doing it, but what works, works.' Zuko stumbled a few steps and then fell on his knees to the ground with a grunt of pain. For a moment, she thought he was going to stand up again.

"Is he out?" Ty Lee asked, coming up behind her.

"Not yet." Azula said, getting ready to swing again. Right when she was about to knock him upside the head for the second time, Zuko fell forward in a dead faint and a small trickle of blood dripped out from his hair.

"Now, he's out." Mai pointed out.

Ty Lee nudged him with her foot, and when he did not move she said "Yeah, now he's out. He must have a really hard head though!"

"Let's get him out of here before someone comes." Azula said bending down and lifting his shoulders. Her brother had definitely grown since she had last seen him. He had gained some weight from muscle and he was a little taller than she remembered, too. With the changes in weight and height, he almost looked like a completely different person. Mai took up his feet and Ty Lee became the lookout. Luck was on their side as they came across no one on their way to one of the deserted borders of the wall.

'The only flaw of the so called impenetrable wall of Ba Sing Se.' Azula thought wryly. 'They weren't expecting their enemy to be breeching the wall from this side.' The lay out of the wall was quite simple. When enemies attacked, they usually attacked the sections of the wall that were close to the richer parts of town because those sections were closer to the palace. Most soldiers were posted there to protect the palace and the rich nobles and merchants. In fact, during times of peace, close to no soldiers were even posted on the poor and middle class sides of town. After all, who needs to protect peasants?

'Disappointing, really. I would have expected them to be more wary of invaders from all sides of the wall, after uncle Iroh.' Azula mused.

Ty Lee went ahead of them to scout for the few soldiers that roamed these parts of the city, while Azula and Mai hobbled on with the heavy Zuko.

"Man, your brother's gotten fat since he left the palace." Mai complained, glaring at the unconscious prince. Biting back the need to defend him and his obvious lack of fat, Azula simply grunted and picked up their pace. They were almost to the wall, when Ty Lee met up with them again.

"All I found was one drunken soldier and his passed out girlfriend." She reported happily.

"Good." Azula said shortly. Despite the cold, sweat was beading on her forehead and her muscles ached from carrying the heavy load from one end of the city to the other. What was more, once they got him to the wall they would have to heft him over it.

'This is gonna be fun.' She thought sarcastically.

They had been smart enough to predict that they would have trouble getting him over here so they had left camp fairly close to this side of the wall.

'Still, just getting him over that wall's gonna be a bitch.' She glared at the man resting in her arms. 'You just had to get tall and muscular before we got here.'

When they got to the wall Ty Lee climbed up and waited for Zuko to be passed up. Azula and Mai hurriedly pushed him up into the girl's arms before slumping over on the wall to catch their breath.

"Hurry up!" Ty Lee whispered loudly. "The guard is due to switch soon and if I'm sitting on this wall I'm gonna be seen."

"We're coming." Mai growled, rubbing the ache from her muscles. Both girls hauled themselfs over the wall and then dropped to the ground below. Ty Lee moved Zuko so that his legs would go down first, but stopped before she dropped him.

"What are you waiting for?" Azula asked impatiently.

"Um... Azula?" Ty Lee said nervously.

"What?" Azula hissed.

"I... I think you hit him too hard." Ty Lee responded.

"Why?" The princess asked, her blood turning cold and her breath stilling in her lungs.

"He's still bleeding... really badly." Ty Lee said, her voice quivering.

"Drop him down." Azula said breathlessly. Ty Lee gently lowered Zuko and Azula pulled him into her waiting arms not even giving Mai the chance to reach for him.

'Oh no.' She thought, feeling the blood on his head. 'If he dies... father, the plan,... Zuko... '

"We...we have to get him somewhere where we can light a fire." Azula said, forcing herself to remain calm. "We have to check his wound."

Ty Lee hopped down from the wall and took his legs giving Mai a break. Mai sprinted ahead of them and lit a fire at their camp. When the girls got there she said, "This spot will have to due until we treat the wound."

By the time they had gotten Zuko on his stomach, the fire was bright enough to illuminate the gash on Zuko's head. Azula traced the gash with her finger in confusion.

"This was caused by something sharp." She said, eyebrows furrowed. "The pipe must have been twisted at the end. I must have missed it."

"No time to worry about that now." Ty Lee said as she brought over two of their canteens and some bandages. "We have to treat that wound before he bleeds to death. Head wounds bleed more heavily than most other wounds." Ty Lee finished.

Azula pushed aside Zuko's blood matted raven hair and took one of the canteens from Ty Lee. She gently poured the water on the wound until the bleeding lessened and then wrapped Zuko's head tightly with two of the bandages.

"I don't know how to treat this. This can't be enough to help him." Azula said. "We need to take him to the nearest healer."

The girls then packed up the medical equipment, readied the rhinos, put out the fire, and rode for closest town to Ba Sing Se.

Well, that's the end of that chapter. I don't know how long it will take to complete the next one because I keep rewriting it... ^_^;; Anyways, I would like to thank Zxzdragon, the vampire armond, Gongsun Du, and Vercingetorix1234 for reviewing. I would also like to answer Vercingtorix1234's review just in case I haven't been clear on this point in the story. Vercintorix1234 asked "How will sharing the throne with Zuko help Azula regain her father's favor?" The point of sharing the throne with Zuko wasn't really to regain to regain her father's favor. At that time, Ozai was losing faith in both of his children and, as such, there is always a possibility that Zuko could get the throne over Azula, or Azula could get the throne over Zuko, or Ozai could even name someone else the heir. The point of Zuko and Azula sharing the throne was that, together they would stronger and present less competition between the two of them. I hope that that answered a few questions. If you have any more let me know. – librianangel


	3. Chapter 3

**Author Note: This has been a really stressful period of time for me. I am sorry for the delay in posting this new chapter, but I have been taking more hours at work so that I have more money for college. I'm hardly ever home anymore. I managed to make a good sized chapter, but obviously it took awhile. In the future, I may have to sacrifice chapter length in order to get the chapters out sooner.**

* * *

~With Azula two hours later~

After riding the rhinos for two hours straight, they found a nearby town. Azula had not cared enough to ask for the name. It was obviously a small town, though not so small as to not have their own healer. That healer was an elderly woman by the name of Meihui. As soon as she saw the unconscious Zuko being carried in, she immediately rushed over and led the girls inside. Once there, she indicated that they should lay him on a pallet by the hearth. When Zuko was situated to the old woman's liking, she shoed the girls out and told them she would send for them when she was done. That was an hour ago and Azula's patience was wearing thin.

'One more minute,' She thought while pacing, 'One more minute and I'm going to barge in there and demand some answers. This is ridiculous! How dare that peasant (Notice a family resemblance here?) think she can just push me out of the house? I am a Fire Nation princess, a descendant of Sozin, and an heir to the throne of the fire nation, not some unruly child!'

"If she paces much longer, I think there's going to be a rut in the dirt. I mean you'd think she actually cared if he was alright." Azula heard Ty Lee whisper to Mai. The two were sitting against the wall of the healers hut. Mai just grunted at the other girl and closed her eyes. Azula glowered at Ty Lee in contempt. What did she know? 'Peasants! We should just sew their mouths shut.'

"Miss?" A young boy asked Azula.

Azula put a fake smile on her face and said sweetly, "Yes?"

"Meihui wanted me to tell you that it's okay for you to come in now." The boy said, blushing.

Azula almost scowled but held her composure. 'Oh, great! Peasant boy's got a crush on me.'

"Thank you." She said walking past him.

When she entered the hut the woman immediately asked "How did he come across such a deep gash?"

Azula acted demure and said in a delicate and lady like voice "I'm not sure mam. My friends and I found him not too far down the road."

Suspicion filled the woman's eyes, and she said, "I see. And why were young ladies, like yourselves, traveling alone at night."

"Well, our father hired a guard, but made the mistake of paying the man up front. He abandoned us, but not before he made sure we were lost. We just happened to stumble upon the road not too soon before we found the boy." Azula replied bowing her head in mock despair. "Will he be alright? I've... I've never seen so much blood before." The touch of fake innocence Azula injected into her voice in that statement wiped the suspicion completely off the face of the older woman.

"He'll be fine. He just needs some rest." The healer said compassionately. "Come and sit down with me. We'll have tea. What's your name dear."

"Thank you. My name is Huian." Azula answered as she seated herself before the woman. "Do you know when he'll wake up?"

"I would say he'll wake up possibly tonight if he's strong enough, afternoon tomorrow at the latest. The wound was fairly deep, and he had a mild concussion from the blow, but it was the blood loss that affected him the most." The healer said as she poured the tea into two wooden cups.

"Drink it before it cools off dear." The woman said handing one of the cups to Azula.

"Yes, mam." Azula forced herself to say.

For the next few hours, Azula was forced to play the role of the demure and well mannered lady. It made her sick. When she thought she could take no more she plead out by yawning and saying "I'm sorry. I did not sleep last night. What did you say?"

"Oh, dear." The woman exclaimed. "I should have asked. That was very inconsiderate of me. Never mind what I said, let's just get you and your friends somewhere to sleep."

"Thank you, mam" Azula said smirking inwardly.

Azula slept lightly for a few hours, but most of the time she was just listening for changes in Zuko's breathing. If he awoke before she did and spoke to Meihui it could be troublesome. It would not stop her, but it would cause complications. Complications that would entail forcibly removing Zuko from the village even if it meant that the village had to be burned to the ground in the process. Luckily, the woman had left the hut to allow the four of them to sleep undisturbed. While Azula would have no reservations in harming these people, it would waste valuable time and she did not want to go through the effort.

At the first sign of Zuko's awakening, Azula crawled silently to him. When he groaned and opened his eyes, she immediately covered his mouth with her hand and whispered into his ear. "We are in an Earth Kingdom village. If you say anything to any one of these people about how we kidnaped you or if you try to leave, I will burn this village and it's inhabitants to the ground. Do you understand?"

Zuko's eyes turned cold, but he nodded. Azula removed her hand, but stayed near him. "If we can not slip out of here unnoticed. Mai, Ty Lee, and I are just travelers who found you not far from here on the road to Ba Sing Se. You don't know our names or anything about us. You are a traveler from Ba Sing Se named Akihiko and you did not see the people who attacked you, but they stole the engagement ring you were going to give to your fiancé Asami. Be angry about that. You will tell them that you are going to travel back to Ba Sing Se with us. That it would be safer in a group and you feel that you owe the young girls who saved your life. Oh, and Zuko, if you value their lives, you won't screw this up."

Azula pulled away and went back to her sleeping mat. Crawling under the covers, she feigned sleep. She would wait until Ty Lee and Mai woke before informing them that they would be fake sleeping until nightfall.

~With Zuko~

When Zuko awoke, the smell of spices was heavy around him. Every part of him ached, but his head was the worst by far.

'Where am I?' He thought groggily. 'What happened?'

He groaned and a hand suddenly covered his mouth and a body pressed him forcefully down. Ignoring the pain, his eyes shot open to see a head of black hair to his right. A female voice suddenly spoke to him, "We are in an Earth Kingdom village." It took him a moment before realization set in. Azula was the person laying halfway on top of him and whispering in his ear.

"If you say anything to any one of these people about how we kidnaped you or if you try to leave, I will burn this village and it's inhabitants to the ground. Do you understand?"

'People dying bad.' Zuko thought bitterly. 'Yep, I get it.' Zuko nodded his head, sending a shock of pain through his skull.

It was hard for him to concentrate on Azula's words with the pain in his head and the buzzing in his ears, but he managed to get the gist of it. Her warning at the end sent ice into his blood. Mainly, because he knew she meant it, but also because, if it happened, it would be his fault.

Once she got her point across, Azula pulled away from him and crawled under her covers. As she was leaving, Zuko couldn't stop the passing thought that mourned her missing heat pressing up against him or the stray thought that mentioned how green was a good color on her, but red was better. Zuko just sighed and struggled to find a sleep that would not come.

~At dusk~

An old woman entered the tent and woke "Huian". 'Yeah, right. Kind peace my ass.' Zuko thought bitterly. He was shocked when Azula's voice came out soft and gentle, almost like their mothers, but then he remembered that it was all an act and Azula was not capable of any form of gentleness.

"Has the boy woken yet?" The woman asked.

"No, mam." Azula said bowing her head. "I wish he would. He's scaring me."

"It's alright child. It's too soon to be worrying." The woman said gently. Zuko heard the soft sound of foot steps approaching him so he evened his breathing and every once in a while fluttered his eyelashes softly.

"Well, he's dreaming." The woman said. She was so close, Zuko could feel her breath puffing on his forehead. 'Too close.' Zuko thought nervously.

"That's a good sign dear." The woman said stepping back. "I'm going to stay with some of my neighbors tonight. If he does anything strange or wakes up, please come and fetch me."

"Of coarse, mam." Azula said respectfully.

"Goodnight, dear." The woman said.

"Goodnight, mam." Azula responded.

When the woman was gone, Azula turned to him and said quietly "Nice acting, Zuzu."

Zuko only glared at the girl before attempting to turn over and almost vomiting in the process.

"You better get over that soon." Azula said observantly. "We're leaving once I'm sure everyone's asleep and then you'll have to ride one of the rhinos."

"Oh, great." Zuko said sarcastically.

"Sarcasm will do you no good, Zuzu" Azula said seemingly happy.

"Go fuck off." Zuko growled.

"What vulgar language you learned from those peasants." Azula replied. "And when I do fuck something brother, it's going to be a little closer to home than you think." Zuko looked at Azula curiously before he decided he didn't want to know.

"Whatever." He muttered closing his eyes. Surprisingly, no retort came from the fire princess, only the sound of her soft breathing. Somehow comforted by the sound he had not heard since he was a child, Zuko drifted into a deep slumber.

~With Azula two hours later~

Once she had let Zuko and the girls sleep as long as she thought possible, Azula rose from her makeshift bedding and woke Ty Lee and Mai. It took a while to pry them from their beds, but once they were up they made good time readying things for their departure. After everything was ready, Azula sent Mai and Ty Lee off to the rhinos with the things. She wanted Zuko to try walking a little himself and she hoped the sleep might have helped rid him of his nausea.

When she shook his shoulder, Zuko gave a half moan half growl and merely batted her hand away. Azula raised an eyebrow in amusement and shook him again. When she received the same results, a giggle escaped her lips. Caught off guard, she slapped a hand to her mouth to hide the sound she had omitted seconds before. She had not giggled or laughed since she was a child. Azula's eyes shifted from side to side to find anyone who might have witnessed the embarrassing transaction.

Finding no one, Azula sighed in relief. 'Never again.' She thought mortified. 'That will never happen again.'

This time, Azula punched the drowsy prince in the arm. Zuko groaned as the punch caused his head to shake. Fighting back the resulting guilt, Azula stared down at him.

Zuko glared at her and asked, "What?"

"Time to wake up." She said grasping his shoulders.

Somehow, Azula and Zuko managed to get out of the hut and onto the forest path without too much pain on Zuko's part. Azula even surprised herself with how gentle she was with him. Her left arm was around his waist, while his right was around her shoulders. It seemed that sleeping had managed to improve Zuko's condition. He seemed to be able to hold most of his weight, but he had a problem with walking in a straight line. Several times, he stumbled over his own feet and Azula had to catch him.

"You can't even walk." Azula pointed out in disgust.

"Yes, well, I didn't have any problems walking until a crazy bitch hit me in the back of the head." Zuko growled at her.

"Are you sure about that?" Azula asked sweetly. "You seem to have problems doing everything else."

"You think you're so damned perfect don't you." Zuko spat.

"I'm am perfect, brother." Azula responded seriously. "One day, you'll realize that."

"Cocky bitch." Zuko muttered.

"I don't have a cock, Zuko. Can't be cocky if you don't have one." Azula purred. A smirk appeared on her face when Zuko said nothing.

"What? Nothing to say?" Azula asked. "Do I win again, Zuzu?"

Gritting his teeth against the urge to get even with the girl, Zuko remained silent. He knew arguing would do no good. Azula just kept on going and Zuko was not in the mood to deal with a continued argument. Sensing his defeat, Azula smirked at the familiar and comforting feeling of besting her brother.

~With Zuko~

By the time they got to the girls, Zuko could barely stand. With the way his vision was spinning, it was lucky he had gotten this far. 'Why won't the world stop spinning?' Zuko thought when he was jostled by stumbling. 'Oh, yeah. That's why.' Every step seemed disrupt his balance even more than the last.

The girls "helped" (drug) him onto one of the three rhinos, who snorted and shifted anxiously. After a few minutes, Zuko felt a body climb onto the rhino behind him.

"Time to go." Azula drawled queuing the rhino to go. They kept up a steady pace throughout the day, stopping only to eat and care for the rhinos. Not long before sundown, Azula stopped them for the night. She helped Zuko down and supported him as he hobbled to a tree. Zuko slid down the rough bark, sighing in relief. As the girls set about making camp, Zuko was lost in thought.

Zuko wasn't sure why Azula had kidnaped him, but he wasn't sure he wanted to find out either. He knew his only chance to escape would be now, while Azula underestimated him because of his head injury. After making sure that the girls were distracted, Zuko forced himself to stand. He was dizzy from his injury and tired from traveling all day, but if he could only get out of the area he could hide until he had recovered. Zuko silently stepped further back into the forest.

~With Azula~

Azula was nervous. Action was her forte, not talking, and, while capturing Zuko was the easy part, confronting him would be difficult. After all, Azula was a princess. When she wanted something it was instantly given to her, she had never had to convince someone to see her way before.

'Is there an easy way to tell your brother that you want to marry him so that you can share the throne because your father thinks that both of you are failures?' Azula wondered. 'Probably not.' She decided.

Caring for the rhinos and setting up camp gave Azula a much needed distraction. Focusing on the work allowed her to concentrate on something other than sibling problems. It was soothing for her nerves. She knew she would have to face him soon, more than likely tonight, but for now she really didn't want to think about it.

"Um...A..Azula?" TyLee stuttered.

"What is it?" Azula asked as she rolled out a bed mat.

"Didn't we leave Zuko over there?" TyLee asked nervously.

Azula's gaze flew up to the empty area where her brother had been. 'What?' She thought in shock. 'How was he in good enough of a condition to move?' After shock, anger set in. 'He was supposed to stay there dammit!' she thought. 'How can I marry him when he doesn't take orders?'

"Find him!" Azula growled. The girls each set out in different directions. Azula had to admit the chances of finding Zuko were slim. This was a big forest and Zuko was smart enough to lie low. He wouldn't make stupid mistakes.

"Zuko!" Azula called out as she trudged through bushes. "Zuko, if I have to burn this entire forest to the ground to find you, I will."

~With Zuko~

Zuko managed to trudge about a mile before he finally collapsed. He didn't feel that he was far enough away from Azula, but he could go no further. His legs felt like jelly and he was still panting with the effort of moving.

Zuko really had no idea why Azula would go to such trouble to capture him, but he knew it couldn't be good. Azula was a viscous person and she would do anything to get what she wanted, but, as far as he knew, Azula was still after the Avatar. Zuko could not imagine why Azula would give up her chase for the Avatar in order to capture him. It was true that Zuko had a bounty on head his by the fire nation, but there was no reason for Azula to collect on it. Others would be sent to capture the prince since he wouldn't be considered strong enough to be worth Azula's effort. It was to these thoughts that Zuko allowed himself to drift off, surrendering himself to the haze of unconsciousness.

* * *

**Yay!! My first chapter finished in weeks! I feel so much better now. I kept wanting to come back and write on my stories, but the few times that I was home I was too tired to even go near my computer (for me that is bad). Anyways, I would like to thank everyone who reviewed last time and I hope to get the next chapter out soon since I have already started it, but no promises.**


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